5 cinemas for indie films in Brussels

A small door in a side street leads into one of the world’s great film museums. The interior was redesigned by the Belgian architects Robbrecht & Daem, creating an airy foyer where you can watch fragments from classic movies on suspended screens or tinker with early movie contraptions, but the main reason to come here is to watch a classic film without the background munch of popcorn.

This art deco cinema on the edge of the Matongé screens serious European and world movies. It now struggles to compete with the shiny multiplexes, but some people still love Vendôme for its tiny pavement box office and its willingness to screen challenging films from Bosnia or Mongolia.

Prepare yourself for a shock. This small alternative cinema run by volunteers looks like a squat. Exposed brick walls, old sofas and car seats are scattered around the bar. But don’t run away. This is one of the most exciting art-house cinemas in Europe, with an ambitious and inspiring programme of experimental films that you will never see anywhere else.

This romantic art deco cinema opened in 1939 in a beautiful covered arcade. The Lumière brothers screened the very first film in Belgium in a room on the opposite side of the gallery in 1895. The cinema has struggled to survive in recent years, but still continues to show prizewinning international art-house films on two screens.

It lay empty for 15 years, but the gorgeous Palace cinema has finally been restored. Designed in 1913 by art nouveau architect Paul Hamesse, this was once Brussels’ largest cinema. It reopened in 2018 following an ambitious renovation that preserved the spectacular lobby while creating four modern screening rooms, several meeting spaces and a restaurant. Supported by a group of prominent Belgian directors, the cinema now screens art-house films.